A Universal Pictures Release
October 1926 - 8 Reels
Directed by Edward Sloman

FEATURED CAST
Jean Hersholt
George Lewis
June Marlowe (as Ina Heath)
and
Louise Fazenda

Copy of a photo taken from the Universal press kit.

When June moved to Universal Studios, Moving Picture World announced the signing thus: "June Marlowe, 1925 Wampas Baby star, has just been placed under a five-year contract by Carl Laemmle, according to an announcement of Henry McRae, general manager of Universal's West Coast Studios.  Miss Marlowe's contract with another producer recently expired and she was immediately signed on the new contract."
Universal quickly ran a small blurb for June under their Watch This Column ad space in Photoplay Magazine that said "June Marlowe will attract much attention not alone by her pure type of American beauty, but also by her acting..."

Universal would use June in a number of ways, the first of which was to put her in support of Jean Hersholt, a well known character actor of the time.

The Old Soak was based on a popular play by Don Marquis and June's role was another change of pace from the young innocent she usually played.  Here, she played a socially aspiring showgirl, although one with a good heart.  The story involves stock theft and in the end June's character helps turn everything right. Critics were mixed about how they felt about the film due to the fact that the studio removed most all comedy elements which were present in the stage play.  Many felt this took away from the overall story.  With regards to how they felt about June's performance, a L.A. Times review noted June helped in making the final reels a "...rich human drama."  Variety stated "June Marlowe as the girl handles it very well.  At times she is most pleasing and convincing."  Harrison's Reports said "June Marlowe .. awakens warm sympathy.." and "..does excellent work as the heroine."

A side note: During the mid 1920's Universal began a program called "Show At Home" which allowed the general public to rent 16mm copies of certain motion pictures to view at home (or pretty much anywhere else for that matter).  Complaints from theater owners quickly quashed the program.  Given the wide distribution of these films, it is surprising that few (if any) of these films are available today.  The Old Soak was one of these "Show At Home" feature films.

Now that Universal knew they could put their new featured player in roles somewhat different than she had done before, what did they do?  They began casting her as a young innocent!

Thanks to Annette D'Agostino, Scott Johnson, and Ted Boysen for their additional research.

This film, once available through Universal's "Show At Home" rental program, is unavailable for viewing.